Beneath Darkened Skies
by d962831
Summary: Story featuring an OC who joins the crew. The story is going to focus mainly on the crews acceptance of their new nakama, and his acceptance of them. Also a romance between the OC and Robin Rated T...for now.
1. Chapter 1

Rain. It was pouring rain as the Straw hat crew approached the island, aboard the Thousand Sunny. Per the usual, Luffy was grinning at the prospect of exploring the island and along with Usopp and Chopper chanted, "Island. Island. Island. Island. Island…."

"Ugh, can't they shut up for two seconds?" Zoro complained before yawning.

Nami glanced at him, irritated, "You've been sleeping all day! Do you have any clue what they were doing earlier?"

"Hm?" Zoro looked at her and shrugged.

"Hmph," Nami crossed her arms and turned away from the swordsman, "Why don't you go help Sanji and Franky get ready to dock?"

"Eh, they'll be fine on their own," Zoro said as he crossed his arms behind his head and went back to sleep.

Nami glared at Zoro and was about to conk him over the head when Robin spoke, "Nami-san? Do you think it will continue to rain while we're here?"

Nami glanced out a window and looked at the gray sky. "I don't think so, there don't seem to be any storms on the way."

Robin stood up, "Thank you," and then left the room. Nami watched her leave and then shrugged.

Suddenly the sound of a violin joined in with the chanting that Luffy and the others were still doing and Nami groaned.

Sanji and Franky finished tying the ship to the dock and were heading back inside when Franky stopped and looked toward the dock. Sanji stopped and followed his gaze, looking into the gray haze that obscured the town beyond. The sound of footfalls reached them and they saw someone walking past the dock. The figure became clearer as it got closer to the Sunny and they started to see a man walking with his head tilted down, his hair hanging heavily as water dripped off of it as quickly as it was raining.

"Oi, oi," Sanji called out, "You're going to get sick walking around like that."

The person didn't respond or even make a motion that indicated he'd heard Sanji. Sanji and Franky looked at each other and shrugged, walking back inside to dry off.

Nami turned as they came in and saw the brooding look they had. "Hey you two, what happened out there?"

Sanji walked by as he headed to the kitchen, "Eh? Oh, nothing."

Franky sat down and said, "Just someone walking by the dock. He looked like he's been out in this rain for a while. We shouted at him but he just kept walking."

"Out in this rain?" Nami asked, "Is he trying to get sick?"

"That's what we were wondering," Sanji said as he started to boil some water.

The others had stopped their chanting and Chopper chimed in, "What? Someone's sick?"

Franky leaned back in his chair and look over to Chopper, "Nah, just someone outside walking in the rain."

Luffy leaned forward, "Oooooo! A Mystery guy!" With a laugh he jumped to his feet and ran out the door, followed closely by Usopp and Chopper. They reached the ship railing and leaned over before Luffy took in a deep breath and shouted, "Oi! Mystery guy!"

All three looked from side to side as the rain started to lessen and then Usopp pointed, "Over there!"

Luffy and Chopper looked and saw the retreating figure, becoming clearer as the rain continued to slow and then stopped altogether. "Hey! Mystery guy!" Luffy shouted again. He frowned when the man didn't answer but kept walking, and then drew a hand back and stretched it out, grabbing the collar of the man's shirt.

Everyone else walked out onto the deck as Luffy's hand grabbed the Mystery guy's collar, having heard the rain stop. Zoro saw Luffy stretching out his arm, "Oi, Luffy, what're you-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as Luffy's arm suddenly returned, sending the Mystery guy straight into Zoro.

"LUFFY!" Nami shouted as she hit him over the head.

"Who is that?" Robin asked looking at the form of the man who was sprawled over Zoro's legs.

Zoro pushed the man off and stood up, dusting himself off, "Dunno, ask Luffy."

"It's the Mystery guy!" Luffy said grinning before receiving another blow to the head from Nami.

Usopp stepped forward, "Uh, why isn't he moving?"

"The marimo pry knocked him out with his thick skull," Sanji said smirking.

"What?! I knocked him out? It was Luffy who dragged him here!" Zoro shouted.

Franky knealt down next to the man and turned him over, freezing and staring when he saw the mans face.

Nami frowned at Franky, "What is it, Franky?" Then she saw as Franky finished turning him over so everyone could see and covered her mouth with a hand.

He was covered in blood, cuts, and bruises from his face down to his waist. Chopper ran forward and stood next to the still figure, looking him over quickly.

"Luffy you idiot, look what you did!" Nami said, grabbing Luffy's collar and pointing to the man.

"Nami-san," Robin said, getting the navigators attention, "These wounds are more consistent with blades of some sort, right Chopper?"

The reindeer nodded slowly.

"This guy was walking?" Zoro said, disbelief evident on his face. "So what do we do with him?"

"Ah, well the rain has stopped," Brooke said, "Perhaps someone in town will know him?"

Luffy scratched his head, "Man, what a weird Mystery guy."

Zoro brought a hand up to his face and muttered, "What an idiot."


	2. Chapter 2

Franky let out a low whistle as they filed into the pub. It was a mess; there were broken chairs, tables and bottles strewn about one half of the room and two people were busy pushing all the broken furniture to the side. There were a few occupied tables with people talking in whispers and a man and woman behind the bar talking who both looked like they needed sleep. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Franky approached the bar.

"What happened here?" Nami asked, leaning against the counter.

"I don't know," the man said, "What does it look like?"

"Clive!" the woman snapped at the man and then turned to the Straw hats, "Sorry. We had some trouble earlier with a group of pirates, they're long gone by now though, so you needn't worry."

"Yeah!" One of the people sitting at the tables shouted, "Altros drove 'em off! Had 'em running with their tails between their legs!" There was a chorus of cheers before things settled down.

"Altros?" Zoro said.

"Yeah," Clive said leaning on the counter, "Then the idiot left, said he was going home. He should've gone to see the doc. He was beaten to a bloody pulp by those pirates…ganging up on 'im like that. Bastard always was an odd one." Clive shook his head.

"That 'bastard' saved your life!" The woman shouted.

"Oh, you mean the Mystery guy?" Luffy asked.

"What?" Clive asked.

The woman leaned forward, "You saw Altros?"

"Yeah, he's on our ship!" Luffy said with a grin.

"Sh-ship? Who exactly are you?" the woman asked.

"Pirates!" Luffy said again gleefully.

"Please tell me he didn't just say that," Zoro said.

"He said it," Sanji replied.

"Pirates!" Someone from the tables shouted as the whole group stood up and started walking toward the Strawhats.

"What've you've done with 'im?"

"You just couldn't go without revenge, could you?"

Nami put her hands up and tried to smile, "No, no, you don't understand, we just got here!"

"Yeah right you damn pirates!" Someone shouted as they started running forward.

Sanji jumped forward and kicked them once they were close enough, knocking them all aside. "Keep your hands off Nami-san!"

* * *

He could hear before he could see, the small noise of paper moving. He tried opening his eyes and found himself staring up at a wooden ceiling.

"Ah, you're awake," He heard a woman say. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her stand and set a book down and then walk to the door. "Doctor-san, he's awake."

Almost immediately the fast trot of someone small was heard, and Altros tried to turn his head to see. All he saw though was a small shape hopping towards him, not able to tell what it was until it was next to him.

"A…raccoon-dog?"

"I'm not a raccoon-dog, I'm a reindeer!" Chopper yelled angrily as he changed into his heavy point form and then quickly calmed down and started examining Altros.

"Where…?"

"You're on our ship," Robin said.

Altros blinked, "How?"

Robin thought how to phrase the answer for a moment, "Well… captain-san pulled you on board."

"That who grabbed me? Your captain?" Altros asked, receiving a nod. "Captain…." Altros muttered, "Must mean I'm on a ship, and I'm not in irons so it isn't the marines. So you're either traders, or pirates."

Chopper looked up, "We're the Straw hat pirates."

"Straw hat….. heh, infamous pirates then" With a groan he sat up.

"Hey! Don't move, you need to rest so-" Chopper said.

"I'm fine," Altros said as he stood. "I've been through worse and walked away, so I'm fine."


	3. Chapter 3

Zoro sheathed his sword and sat down in an unbroken chair along with everyone else in the tavern.

"So you're treating his wounds?"

"Yes," Nami said, thankful that the people had listened. The last thing they needed right now was a fight.

Franky leaned forward on the table, "So what did you mean by 'revenge?' You said we couldn't go without revenge."

"Yes," Clive said with a heavy sigh, "There have been some pirates moored at the northern side of the island for the past few days now. At first there weren't any real problems, just a rowdy bunch, but the yesterday evening things started getting out of hand."

The Straw hats couldn't help but notice the woman who'd been behind the counter with Clive as she picked her feet up and hugged her legs to her chest. Clive placed a hand on her shoulder, "S'alright now Tesha."

Everyone had their attention on Clive, waiting for him to elaborate, instead one of the other patrons started talking, "It went like this…."

"**Alright, Tesha, I'm going to grab another crate of sake," Clive said as he went into a back room.**

"**Hey, girlie," a pirate yelled, "Get over here and fill are drinks!"**

**Tesha sighed and grabbed two pitchers of ale and walked over, pouring some into the pirates' mug, and doing the same with the others until one pitcher was empty. She was starting to pour from the other pitcher when she felt a hand roughly hit her behind. She turned to see one of the pirates leering at her and so raised the pitcher over his head and dumped all of the ale on him.**

**The other pirates started laughing as the one who was now soaked in ale shot up out of his seat and grabbed Tesha's wrists, making her drop both pitcher which shattered when they hit the ground.**

"**I think the girlie needs a lesson in manners," the pirate said grinning. There was a chorus of agreement from the others.**

"**Hey! Let Tesha go you ruffian!" another patron said. A group of them were getting out of their seats but quickly froze when nearby pirates drew their swords on them.**

**Clive walked out of the back carrying a crate and froze at the scene in front of him. He dropped the crate and started rushing forward, but was stopped by a pirate who grabbed him and held a knife to his throat. "Let my wife go!"**

"**Your wife, eh?" The pirate holding Tesha brought her hands together and gripped both with one of his. Then gripped her chin with his free hand. He smirked as his face got closer to hers and she squirmed in disgust.**

**Then the door opened and someone stepped in and then stepped to the side of it and pointed outside. Altros looked up grimly and addressed the pirates, "All of you, leave, now, and let Tesha go. This is your only chance."**

**The tavern was dead silent before all the pirates erupted in laughter.**

"**Oi! I think this one wants a fight! Hahahahaha!"**

"**What's he gonna do? Standing there pointing at nothing. Ahahahahaha!"**

"**You don't want me pointing at you," Altros said softly.**

"**Eh? What was that, runt?"**

**Altros swung his arm over to the pirate holding Tesha, and pointed at the man with his pointer and middle finger, "I said, 'You don't want me pointing at you.'"**

"**Huh? Are you touched in the head, or something?"**

"**Please, don't make me do this," Altros said, "Just leave and we can all go on with our evening happily. No one gets hurt."**

"**Ahahahahaha! He's begging us to leave!"**

**The pirate holding Tesha smiled mirthfully at Altros, "Well, we aren't quite done with our fun, so how about you come in and quietly sit down, and the boys here won't rough you up too bad?"**

"**That isn't an option," Altros said.**

"'**That isn't an option,'" The pirate mocked, "Well we ain't leaving!"**

**There was a near silent fwip and the pirate holding Tesha dropped his knife and fell to his knees, clutching at his neck. The pirate let out a scream of agony and his cohorts were immediately on their feet. A few tried to calm the injured one while the rest rushed at Altros.**

**The tavern erupted into chaos and the sounds of a brawl, everything a blur of motion and shouts of anger and pain. Ten minutes passed, then another ten before Altros pushed himself off his knees and stood uneasily. The pirates looked at him wide eyed and quickly grabbed their comrades who couldn't walk and dragged them out. Altros stood still, breathing unevenly as blood dripped from his hands.**

**The door to the tavern burst open and an old man skidded to a halt inside and looked around. He was carrying a wooden staff and breathing heavily. He was the mayor of the town. He looked around at the mess and his eyes fell on Altros.**

"**You again! Ever since you showed up there's been nothing but trouble!" The mayor shouted, walking up to Altros and swinging the staff high overhead. "For the last time, get out!" He brought the staff down and it hit Altros in the shoulder with such force that it snapped. Altros didn't move.**

"**Don't worry mayor," Altros said quietly as he started walking by the old man, "I was just leaving."**

"**You should wait!" Tesha said, "We can get the doctor to-"**

"**I just need some rest," Altros said before he disappeared out the door into the rain.**

"**And don't ever come back!" the mayor yelled, waving his broken staff around.**

"**But mayor, he got rid of all those pirates!" a patron shouted.**

"**Yeah, he saved Tesha!"**

**The mayor turned on them, "It's his fault they were here in the first place! It's been one thing after another since he arrived here! He's more trouble than he's worth!"**

"**How can you say that, after everything-?"**

"**HE'S A WANTED MAN!" The mayor yelled pulling out a roll of paper from his pocket.**

**He held the wanted poster up for everyone to see.**

**It had his picture along with his name, and the price of 40,000,000 beri.**

"He's wanted by the marines?" Sanji asked as the Straw hats looked at the poster that had been set on the table. "What for?"

"Hell if I know," Clive said, "But I knew he was trouble when I first saw him. The mayor is right. He needs to go."

"You can't be serious!" a patron said, "After everything he's done for this town you're going to just cast him out!"

Clive turned back with a retort, "He isn't who you think he is, that should be obvious!" He slapped the wanted poster, "Whoever we think he is, we're wrong! He's lied to us all along and this is the proof!" He stood and stomped off to the backroom, mumbling.


	4. Chapter 4

The Straw hats were heading back to their ship and stopped when they saw a large group of people next to the docks, yelling toward the Sunny. On the dock, Altros stood, while Robin, Chopper, and Usopp looked on from the ship.

"We've had enough of you, Altros! We know the truth you liar!"

"He's nothing but a common criminal!"

"I'll bet it was robbery!"

"No, after last night, it's gotta be murder that got him a bounty that big!"

The shouts all melded into one as Altros stood there, a slight frown on his face. He closed his eyes and sighed, and then looked up and started walking toward the mob. They all went silent and he stopped several feet from them.

"You want me to leave, because of a piece a paper you don't know the story behind?" He asked.

"We've had nothing but trouble around here since you showed up!"

"Yeah!"

"We've had enough of your lies!"

Altros looked down at the ground, "I don't have anywhere to go…"

"Away from here!"

Luffy started walking toward the group calmly, walking past the people until he came to a stop in front of Altros and looked up at the battered man. "Join my crew."

"What did he just say?" Nami asked.

Usopp had apparently heard and shouted, "H-hey, Luffy, maybe you shouldn't be so hasty, those people have to want him gone for a good reason, he could be dangerous!"

Luffy looked up at Altros, who stared back and then Luffy said, "I know, but he's our nakama now so it's ok."

"What?" Altros asked, his eye twitching.

"You're our nakama now," Luffy said.

"Kid, stay out of this," Altros said.

"No. You're our nakama, unless you're going to do to us what you did to those other pirates." Luffy said.

"Hey, Luffy-" Nami started before Sanji put a hand up in front of her.

"Wait, Nami-san."

One of the people in the mob shouted, "Yeah, if he stays around much longer, we could end up like those pirates!"

There was a chorus of agreement that made Altros clench his teeth and ball his hands into fists. He shook in place before finally stilling and unfurling his hands. "I'm not going to hurt these people…"

"Ok," Luffy said and then walked past him, "See you on the Sunny."

"What…what just happened?" Chopper asked.

Robin let a small chuckle escape her lips before turning to Chopper, "It would appear that we have a new crewmate."

* * *

Ten minutes later the Strawhats were on the Sunny making preparations to set off. Altros stood on the deck looking toward the island where the mob was still gathered, glaring at him. They would be there until the Straw Hats left.

"Ugh," Nami complained, "We didn't even get a chance to resupply."

"Actually, Nami, I sent Brooke to go get supplies a while ago, he should be back soon," Robin said.

As if on cue there was a loud 'Yohohohohoho' and then Brooke was falling out of the sky onto the deck, a giant sack in tow. "Ah, I'm back." He said.

"Brooke!" Usopp said, "Did you get everything on the list?"

The skeleton was silent for a moment, "Ah, that and more."

Sanji was digging through the bag looking for the food and commented, "Was all of this really necessary?"

Brooke turned to the cook, "Ah, sorry Sanji-san, I lost my head…..Skull joke! Yohohohohoho!"

"Yahooooo! Let's go!" Luffy shouted.

There was a simultaneous 'yosh' from almost everyone. Franky and Usopp ran inside to start the ship moving while Chopper disappeared into his room to make more medicine. Sanji walked into the kitchen followed by Brooke and Luffy who was shouting for food. Zoro had taken a spot on deck and was already asleep.

"Hey, Robin?" Nami said.

"Yes navigator-san?" Robin replied as she walked up next to the young woman.

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on our new 'nakama.' There's something off about him." Nami whispered.

Both women looked down to where Altros still stood, watching the island as the mob of people began dispersing and they moved away, a favorable wind pushing them along.

"Of course, navigator-san," Robin said before heading up to the upper deck and picking up a book from her chair. She sat down and began reading.

Nami stood watching Altros for a time while he stared off at the island that was growing smaller and smaller in the distance. Then she took one last glance before heading to the map room. She could have sworn she saw something drop over the railing as she turned away, but figured it was nothing.

Altros watched until the island was gone from sight before turning away. He sighed. Once again he'd had to leave the place he thought he could call home. That was the fifth time he'd been forced to leave after an islands inhabitants discovered that he was wanted. His thought turned to the boy, Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat pirates. Why had the kid invited, or rather, just made him join their crew? Altros had to admit, it was convenient, but the whole crew seemed a bit strange, and he'd only been able to blink when he'd seen Brooke for the first time. He didn't want to be a pirate, he wanted a normal life. He supposed he could always get off at the next inhabited island.


	5. Chapter 5

Altros sat on the railing next to Luffy, having been roped into fishing with him, Usopp, and Chopper. He'd been silent the entire time and Luffy was starting to give him funny looks. "Hey, cheer up, now we all get to go on adventures!" Luffy said, as he slapped Altros' back with a closed eye grin. When Luffy opened his eyes he saw Altros no longer on the railing but falling into the water. When he didn't resurface for several seconds, Luffy panicked.

"AAAAAAHH!"

"What now, Luffy?" Zoro said, rubbing his eyes.

"Altros fell in and didn't come back up!" Luffy said, standing up.

"What?" Zoro said, "Is he a Hammer?"

Simultaneously Chopper and Brooke stood up and said, "Don't worry, I'll save you!" And simultaneously they were both grabbed off the railing by Nami who hit them several times in the head. She looked up as Sanji rushed by her and jumped into the water. Almost a minute later he resurfaced, with Altros who coughed up water and Sanji pulled them both up.

Altros opened his eyes to find the others standing over him.

"Did you eat a Devil Fruit?" Nami asked.

Altros sat up and rubbed his head, "Yeah, I…it's not important. I'll be more careful in the future." He stood up and quickly walked away, disappearing inside the ship. Everyone just looked at each other and shrugged.

"So, uh, what Devil Fruit did he eat?" Usopp asked.

Nami scowled, "Looks like he doesn't want to talk about it. I want to know why."

Zoro relaxed again and said, "If he doesn't want to talk about it he's not going to. Leave it be. With our track record we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

The day passed by quickly and soon it was the middle of the night. Altros once more stood against the railing, looking out at sea. He heard footfalls approach and heard the flick of a match lighting. Sanji. The cook came and stood next to him, hands in his pockets. He took a long draw on his cigarette and blew out the smoke, then turned to Altros.

"You didn't fall in," Sanji said, more a statement of fact than a question.

"You saw that, huh?" Altros said, looking down. "I guess you want to know why."

"Yep," Sanji said, turning and leaning his back against the railing.

Altros sighed and looked away from Sanji, his eyes catching an irregularity on a wall. Was that an ear? It dawned on him then that Nico Robin was likely listening. He turned away, pretending to not have noticed.

"I've thought about it a lot since getting on this ship, seeing all of you." Altros said, "I realized that my whole life has been wasted. Living and being alive…they're two different things."

Sanji looked at Altros from the corner of his eye and saw the man with a depressed look on his face.

Altros continued, "Everyone on this ship, all of you, you live. You live life to its fullest rather than just existing as people in this world. I envy you all for that. I despise you all for that. I'm thirty and I've done nothing with my life, I gave up on my dreams. I wandered, existing, but never actually living. I can't remember the last time I smiled. Can't even remember the last time I touched another person, except to beat them to hell. My life's been a waste. One regret after another."

"So you think pushing yourself off the railing and drowning yourself is gonna fix that?" Sanji asked, an annoyed tone in his voice.

"The only thing I'm good for is hurting others," Altros said, "If I weren't here, there would be less pain in this world."

"That so?" Sanji said, taking another drag on his cigarette. "Well then, I guess there's no other choice."

Altros frowned, "Wha-?"

Before he could react arms suddenly appeared on his body and held his arms to his sides and legs together, making him fall with a loud thud to the deck. He was about to start shouting in protest when he heard a door open and the sound of many feet stepping out. He looked to see the entire Straw Hat crew standing there, as Sanji walked over to join them.

"Doesn't anyone on this ship sleep?" Altros complained.

"Yes," came the simple reply from Luffy.

Nami stalked forward and stood over Altros and then started kicking him, "But not when someone who's supposed to be our nakama wants to die!"

"It's true," Robin said smiling with her arms crossed in front of her, "And they won't let it go until it's been dealt with."

Altros growled as Nami knealt next to him, "Now, you're going to tell us what all the depressing talk is about." Altros stared angrily at her until she smirked and leaned forward, "I'll bet it has something to do with the Devil fruit you ate."

Altros' face froze at that comment before he started shaking in fury. "You don't know the guilt I carry, kid."

She hit him in the head and retorted, "I'm not a kid!"

Altros turned and looked up at her. What was with these pirates? He'd been told all their stories, Usopp had seen to that, but he couldn't believe half of it. That they would go to such extreme lengths for a nakama. His gaze fell on the one holding him, Robin. Had what he'd been told actually happened? He knew the Straw Hats had attacked Enies Lobby, but was it really all just to get her back? Had they really declared war on the World Government for the sake of one person? He could see it in all of their eyes. They weren't going to let it go. He looked down and gritted his teeth and mumbled.

"What?" Zoro said.

"Speak up!" Nami yelled hitting him again.

"I killed my family…" Altros said turning one baleful eye on them.

"**Dammit, Altros, where are you hiding?" His father yelled.**

**Altros hugged his legs to his chest as he sat in the middle of a thick group of shrubs. He could make out the shape of his father through the small gaps in the shrubs, his marine coat billowing as he searched, the word "Duty" on the back. He wouldn't go back on that ship, not after what had happened at the last island. He didn't want any part of it, he didn't want to be near those people who called it justice. He hadn't seen any justice. Just the murder of people who hadn't done anything to deserve such a fate. Why did they have to die because of what they might learn? Where was the sense in that?**

"**ALTROS!" His father shouted again.**

**He froze up as his stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten all day. He needed to eat something so his stomach wouldn't growl again, or the noise might lead his father to him. He looked around the shrubs he was in, filled with tiny berries. They were too small. He cast about looking for more when his eyes found an odd looking fruit sitting on the ground. Food! Greedily he bit into it and ate it, hoping it would be enough, but as he finished eating it he gagged. It tasted awful. He started to cough, gagging on the bad taste that was now present in his mouth.**

**He turned on hearing a rustle and suddenly saw his father crash through the bushes.**

"**Altros!" His father said stalking toward him and grabbing his arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"**

**Altros shook and tried to pull away, but his father slapped him and started pulling him along. Altros started shouting, "No! No! I don't want to go back! I don't want to! I don't want to be by those people! I DON'T WANT TO!"**

**His father froze and let go of his arm, looking at the hand he had been holding it with. He suddenly slumped to the ground in a heap with Altros looking on in bewilderment. Slowly he stepped forward and shook the mans arm, "Papa?.........Papa?.......Papa?.......Papa! Papa!"**

**Several marines came into view, having heard the screaming and saw the man on the ground with the boy next to him, crying and trying to shake him awake. They saw it plainly though. The man was dead.**

Altros looked up at the Straw Hats as Robin stopped holding him. He sat up and stared down at the deck.

"You, ate a Devil Fruit and killed your father with the ability it gave you?" Nami said, biting her lip in a frown.

"The Saru Saru no mi," Altros said, "The Sting Sting fruit. I can make stingers filled with a toxin appear anywhere on my body. A single barb of it just makes you sick, two will bring you to your knees, three and you'll be out of commission for a few days. More than that….it becomes deadly."

"Ooooooo! So cool!" Luffy said before being hit over the head by Nami, Zoro, and Sanji who all shouted, "IDIOT!"

Slowly, Altros stood up and brushed himself off before looking at the Straw Hats. "I'll get off on the next island…"

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Luffy asked.

Usopp folded his arms over his chest and turned away, "I don't know, sounds like he wants to leave."

Zoro smirked, "Well I wish him luck with that, because he'll need it. I'm going back to bed."

"Ah, me too," Chopper said following after.

"Hahaha," Franky laughed, "He'll need more than luck."

One by one the crew disappeared, leaving Altros standing there in confusion until only Luffy, Nami, Brooke and Robin were left. Luffy stared at Altros with his arms crossed, "You want to leave?"

Altros frowned, "You want me to stay?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Luffy asked, "You're our nakama."

Nami smiled , "That's one of the things with this crew. Once you join, you can't leave."

"If you do, we'll just come after you," Robin said, knowing that particular situation well.

Altros swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, "Even after, knowing what I am?"

"You're just another person like the rest of us, who happens to have an ability he despises because of something he had no control over," Nami said with a wink before turning and walking back into the ship.

"Yes," Brooke said, "Everyone has some skeletons in their closet……..Skull joke! Yohohohohohoho!"

Luffy broke into fits of laughter as he and Brooke started heading back to bed. Altros was left standing in the middle of the deck, bewildered. "It-it really doesn't….matter at all?" he asked turning to look at Robin.

She shook her head and smiled, then shrugged, "You get used to it."

Altros blinked at her, feeling awkward and out of place. They really didn't care. Altros didn't know how to describe the feeling that was swelling within him. He knew this had to be a dream, kept telling himself it was a dream. He was brought out of his thoughts by a hand coming to rest on his shoulder and heard someone talking. He looked up to see Robin standing in front of him.

"S-sorry, what?" Altros said.

Robin smiled and repeated herself, "Come on, I'll cover watch with you."

That's right. He was on watch tonight. He nodded in agreement without really thinking, his mind still reeling, as wondered what sort of fate had put him here.


	6. Chapter 6

The crow's nest was silent all but for the occasional sound of a piece of paper being turned over. Altros sat, leaning against a window and staring out into the dark night. A small distance away, Robin was silently reading a book, as she had been for the last two hours. Since entering the crow's nest they hadn't said a word to each other. Altros didn't mind that so much as he did her presence there. He highly doubted that she wanted to stay up just to read, especially given the circumstances of that night.

Altros' head was still reeling from the encounter with the crew. It had come out of nowhere, with no warning, and he was still trying to put everything together. Sanji had obviously seen him push off the railing and not fall in because of Luffy, but from the way the cook had approached him, Altros thought that Sanji had yet to tell anyone. That everyone knew, and everyone was up took him by surprise. These were the Straw Hat pirates? The rookies who had shook the World Government to the core? They seemed more like a family than a crew. That Luffy, the naïve, innocent kid that he was, was the captain was even stranger.

He chanced a glance over at Robin who was still reading. How did she put up with it? He wondered about it before shaking the thought away.

_Don't get curious_, he told himself.

He turned and grabbed for his cup of coffee only to find it empty. Damn. He would have to go get more. He started shifting his weight and froze. He'd been keeping his distance, but if he did it too much, he got the feeling there might be another confrontation. Better try and act a bit more like a nakama. He stood and took several paces towards Robin.

"I'm gonna get some more coffee," Altros said, "You want any?"

"Hm, yes please," Robin answered, not looking up from her book.

Altros nodded hesitantly and snatched up her cup before leaving the crow's nest and making his way to the kitchen. After he closed the door to the kitchen he let out a breath, aware that he had been tense for a long time. Now that he was alone, he felt his thoughts clear a little. How long had it been now? Just over a month? A month with the Straw Hats. He felt as though he'd been trapped there for much longer. Trapped, as though he were a prisoner, not so much to them as to himself. Even if he did get off on the next inhabited island, what would he do? The same as before? Try to make a life for himself until the residents of that island found out who he was? He hated to admit it, but there was nothing for him anywhere. Being with the Straw Hats was the closest thing to having a purpose he'd had in a long time.

He poured the cups of coffee and left the kitchen, climbing back up to the crow's nest. He walked to Robin and handed her the cup, receiving a quiet "Thank you," from her. He turned and sat down, taking a sip of his coffee. He glanced at Robin to see her taking a sip of her coffee as well, and gazing at him over the edge of the cup. Something about that look made him uneasy.

Robin sat her cup down and then closed her book and set it aside. She looked up, drawing Altros' gaze and said, "You've been going to lengths to avoid me."

_Dammit_, he thought.

"Well," He said, "You certainly cut straight to the heart of things."

"I wasn't sure of why, until tonight when you told us how you killed your father," Robin said.

Altros didn't like where this was going, "And now you know why?"

"I have a theory," she replied.

"Huh," was all he said. He didn't ask what it was. He didn't want to hear it, and he was sure she could tell that.

They sat in silence, Robin keeping her gaze focused on Altros while his flitted about the room. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything further, Robin spoke, "You were at Ohara."

_Damn this woman is too damn perceptive!_

He slowly looked toward her and saw hardness to her eyes that hadn't been there before. She looked at him expectantly, and he sighed.

"Yeah," Altros said, "I was there. I was a cabin boy on one of the ships, my father was a lieutenant…..if it's revenge you want, then just get it over with."

He closed his eyes and listened as she stood and walked toward him, but was surprised when he felt the seat shift as she sat down next to him. He looked up and turned his head, finding himself face to face with the raven haired woman, looking at her questioningly.

"They called me a demon child," Robin said, "They said that my existence itself was a sin. For so long, I felt guilty for something I had no control over. And then, I joined this crew, and bit by bit, that faded, until at Water 7 they came after me again. I told everyone to leave me be, that I wanted to die. It was guilt, guilt that they refused to let me bear alone anymore. They fought for me, saved me, and showed me that the guilt I'd harbored for so long, just for being alive, was a lie. For the first time, I was able to live life."

She smiled faintly and wiped at her eyes before looking back at Altros, who was just staring at her. "You are not guilty for something that is a part of who you are, nor are you guilty for the acts others commit."

Altros moved his mouth but words wouldn't come. He felt guilty for what had happened at Ohara, it was why he ran and tried to hide, it had lead to his father's death. He had the feeling that, had those words come from anyone else he would have dismissed it all immediately. But they had come from Nico Robin, the sole survivor of Ohara. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, feeling as though a weight was just lifted from his shoulders.

It took him a few more minutes to find his voice, but for the rest of the night they talked. Not about the past, not about what might have been. They talked of everything else, of what could be, what should be, what they found interesting, their thoughts on mundane, pointless things. Altros didn't remember the last time he'd talked so easily with another person. Silently he wondered at what sort of fate put him there.


	7. Chapter 7

_sorry for the delay, been crazy busy here._

_

* * *

_

"Is it just me, or does he seem more relaxed lately?" Nami asked in reference to Altros.

On a dock, Altros, Franky, and Sanji were just finishing tying up the Sunny. Usopp and Zoro were on the upper deck by Nami and looked down to the dock.

"Come to think of it," Usopp said, "He does seem to talk easier now. I think I've even seen him crack a smile a few times."

Zoro put down the massive weight he was using to train and walked over to Nami and Usopp to get a better look. "I don't see what the big deal is, he's just getting used to being around people who don't care about his past."

The sound of small hooves coming up the steps caused their heads to turn. Chopper walked up the stairs, and walked over to them, his backpack empty, ready to head into town. "Hey everyone, what are you talking about?"

"Altros," Usopp said glancing back down at the dock.

Chopper blinked and followed his gaze, his eyes coming to rest on their newest nakama. "What about him?"

Zoro walked down the steps and went inside, wiping his forehead with a towel. Luffy and Brooke had at some point come out of the ship and gone down to the dock with the others.

"He's been a lot more easy going lately, don't you think?" Nami asked Chopper.

"Hm?" Chopper said looking up to Nami, "Yeah, he's been a lot more talkative since Robin and him started doing the night watch together.

"What!" Nami said, "Robin?"

The reindeer nodded, "Yeah, they stay up all night talking."

Nami sighed in relief, "Ah, just talking huh?"

"What'd you think they did?" Usopp asked.

Nami rounded on him, "NOTHING!"

"O-ok," Usopp said, shaking in fright.

"Oi!" Franky shouted up to the three, "We're ready to go!"

"Alright," Nami said, quickly going down the stairs followed by Chopper and Usopp.

"Woohoo! Let's go!" Luffy shouted, and then started running into the town before anyone could stop him.

"Dammit," Zoro said, "I'll go try and find him."

"YOU are going to try finding Luffy?" Sanji said, laughing.

"Arrgh…got something you wanna say, love-cook?" Zoro yelled.

Nami suddenly appeared between the two and grabbed the backs of their heads, slamming them together, "Knock it off!"

"Aye! Nami-swan!" Sanji said, jumping right back up.

Altros laughed at them lightly and then turned to look at the ship. "Who's staying behind to watch the ship?"

"I think Robin said she was gonna," Franky said.

"Ok, let's go before Luffy causes trouble," Nami said as she started walking, the others following.

The small talk all quieted down as they turned a bend in the road and saw Luffy standing still, looking at something. From the way the ground sloped, it seemed he was at the top of a hill.

"Hey, Luffy?" Nami said as they neared.

Luffy didn't answer, but continued to just stare. As the others neared they finally were able to see what Luffy was seeing. Everyone stopped and stared. Below the remnants of a town could be seen, desolate looking buildings, most with only two walls standing. Everything was blackened by what must have been soot.

"Well, Luffy?" Zoro asked, looking at the captain.

"I want to check it out," Luffy said, beginning to walk down the hill.

Usopp took a shaky step forward, "Y-you're really going down there? This place looks haunted!"

Chopper stopped and his mouth dropped as he turned his head to look at Usopp, "Haunted?"

Sanji stuck his hands into his pockets as he passed them, "If you're scared go back to the ship. Tell Robin, she might be interested in this."

"You know, I think I might just do that," Usopp said, taking a step back before turning and running.

Chopper started running after him, "Wait for me!"

Altros looked back at the two running off and sighed, and then started walking after the others. This place had been a town once, obviously, but something had happened. Something had destroyed the buildings, and even tainted the ground so much that though it was long in the past, not a single blade of grass grew in the area.

"It doesn't look like any battle took place, but something violent must have happened," Zoro said, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"You can say that again," Altros muttered, standing a little ways off and looking back toward them. "Take a look at this."

The others frowned in confusion and walked toward Altros, then turned to see what was there. On the blackened stone walls there were gaps that weren't blackened, silhouettes that looked disturbingly like people at times, and at others as just irregular areas at the bottom of the walls.

"Whoa, cool! Hey you guys, check this out!" Luffy said, standing against one of the walls and standing in front of one of the silhouettes.

"Uh, Luffy…" Sanji started saying before being cut off by the 'yohoho' of Brooks laugh as he joined Luffy in posing in front of another silhouette.

A moment later and Nami had hit both, creating a bump on each of their heads, "Have a little respect!"

"Respect for what?" Luffy asked, rubbing his head as he stood.

"Respect for the dead, moron," Zoro said.

Luffy's attention suddenly increased and he turned to look at Zoro, "The…dead?"

"Those silhouettes," Sanji said as he pointed. Luffy's head turned to look at the walls, "Those show where someone spent their last moment of life. People died standing against these walls."

"Looks like some huddled together too," Franky said, kneeling down next to one of the larger irregular shapes near the ground.

"Wait, if they huddled together like that, then they must have known something was happening," Nami said.

"Yeah," Zoro said, "It sure as hell didn't help them any."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments when they saw Robin appear at the top of the hill. Nami waved to the historian, "Robin! We're down here!"

Robin walked briskly down the hill and the others moved back toward the hill, meeting her there. Briefly Nami explained what they'd found and then showed Robin as well.

"There aren't many things that could do something like this," Franky said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Let's keep exploring!" Luffy said, already starting to walk off.

The others rolled their eyes and Nami sighed heavily, "Might as well split up, we can cover more ground that way. Franky, Zoro, go with Luffy, will ya? Sanji, go with Brook. Robin and I'll go together."

"Yosh," Sanji said, only to happy to do as she told him.

"Nami?" Robin said.

"Yeah, Robin?" Nami said, turning to face the older woman, "What is it?"

Robin looked around as though looking for someone, "Where is Altros?"

"Altros? He's….." Nami said, turning. She suddenly became aware that the man wasn't around, and hadn't been when everyone started splitting into groups. "I…don't know. D'you think he went with the others?"

Robin looked around and then turned back to Nami, "I don't believe so. He wasn't here when I got here."

"He wasn't?" Nami asked bewildered now that she realized he'd been absent and no one had noticed it. "Well…..maybe we'll run into him if we start looking around. He probably went off on his own to look at something."

Robin nodded her agreement and the two women started off.


	8. Chapter 8

"There's something I don't get," Franky said as he walked alongside Zoro and Luffy. "There's a dock on the island, but it doesn't seem like there's any town."

"Maybe there used to be a town, but like we saw, it was abandoned," Zoro said.

"Then who's maintained the dock?" Franky asked, "Because it looks almost new."

"Hmmm…." Luffy said his lips forming a pout as he appeared to be deep in thought.

Internally Zoro was counting down the seconds until Luffy said something about it being a mystery, and sure enough; 3….2….1….

"So it's a mystery dock!" Luffy said, pounding a fist into his palm.

* * *

"So no one found anything worth taking a second look at?" Usopp asked, yet again to the group collected in the kitchen as they ate.

Night had fallen and they had all returned to the ship, everyone having seen a similar terrain. A moderate forest with some clearing spread throughout and nothing more. It had came as a bit of a surprise that Altros had yet to show up anywhere and that left almost everyone a little worried and on edge. They knew the man was capable of taking care of himself, yet he was always cautious from what they had seen.

"Is everything alright, Chopper?" Nami asked, noticing the reindeer staring at the door.

Chopper looked at Nami, "Are you sure it's okay to leave him out there all alone?"

Nami sighed trying to think of some way to calm the doctors' nerves but was saved from doing so by Sanji, "Altros will be fine alone for one night. Besides, there's nothing on this island that could pose much of a threat, and even if there were, it's doubtful anything would survive trying to attack him."

Everyone turned to look at the sound of someone standing. Quietly thanking Sanji for the meal, Robin turned and left the kitchen leaving her plate still half full.

Nami frowned, thinking back to earlier in the day. The whole time they'd been wandering around the island Robin had remained silent save for short replies to Nami whenever she said something. Nami had brought up what Chopper had told her about Robin and Altros doing watch together, but the older woman had been short in her reply, avoiding the topic. It left Nami worried about the current situation and she hoped Altros was alright. He was the only one on the ship that Robin was able to relate closely with, as they'd both led lonelier lives before joining the Straw Hats.

As the moon moved higher into the sky one by one the crew retreated to their cabins to sleep. All of them had a little trouble at first as they tossed and turned in thought, but eventually sleep overtook them and they fell asleep.

* * *

Usopp sighed, bored as he sat in the crow's nest. It was his night on watch. Yawning he stretched his arms and turned back to the array of parts in front of him trying to piece together some new device. His head shot up when he thought he heard the creak of a door being opened slowly. He strained, not hearing anything for a moment and then the sound of footsteps on the deck of the ship. They moved quickly and with purpose. He grabbed his bag and quickly went to the ladder and descended it. He jumped the last few feet and ran to the railing able to see a form disappearing quickly into the darkness beyond the dock.

"Oi, oi! Where are you going?" He shouted, not getting a response from whomever it was that had left the ship.

He muttered darkly, hesitating for a moment before jumping down to the dock and running after his nakama. After running for a full minute however, he didn't seem to catch up to anyone and as now very aware that he was alone in this darkness. He struggled with himself, wanting to run back to the ship, but he knew he couldn't, he had to bring back whoever it was that had gone off on their own. Doing his best to put on a brave face he hesitantly started walking forward, following the path from before, thankful for the moonlight that let him see.

As he came over the hill from earlier he paused. The crew had told him what they'd seen there and it only made him feel even stronger that the place might be haunted. His legs shook as he continued into the ruins looking around quickly in case something was there. He heard the crunch of dried leaves being stepped on and froze in mid-step. Shaking he turned his head slightly seeing nothing. His eyes went wide as he sensed someone very close behind him, and then a hand suddenly clamped over his mouth and he flailed his arms and legs in a panic, his scream muffled.

"Quiet, you idiot!" He heard a voice whisper. He knew that voice.

As he was released he turned around, finding Altros standing there. "Altros! What are you doing out here? Where have you been?"

Altros lunged forward, covering Usopp's mouth again, "Quiet! Now, listen to me very carefully….you're going to go back to the ship and cast off. Get away from this island. There are marines here. They use the island for some sort of research. Get everyone out of here."

"Ok! Usopp said as he was released again, "B-b-but what about you?"

Usopp cringed as Altros looked at him fiercely, "Go, Usopp!"

"B-buh-but-" Usopp said, remembering why he was out here in the first place, coming after one of their nakama.

"Go!" Altros ordered, causing Usopp to jump back in fright and start running toward the ship.

As Usopp sprinted away he tripped and suddenly felt himself being pulled to the side, behind a wall. Yet again a hand moving to cover his mouth. This time he realized though that the hand was coming out of his own shoulder. He looked to find Robin crouched down next to him, the hand disappearing in a burst of petals.

"R-Robin? What are you doing out here? Never mind, we need to-" He was cut off as a hand suddenly appeared again and covered his mouth. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance that that kept happening.

"I heard what he said," Robin told Usopp, "Go, wake the others."

He didn't even think about it twice as he sprinted back to the others.

* * *

"You are a hard man to track down," A voice said, accompanied by the sound of dozens of footsteps.

Altros turned and watched as a large group of marines appeared from the shadows. Leading them was a tall broad shouldered man wearing a wicked smirk on his face, eyes shadowed by his hat.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Altros asked.

"For others to find. Not for us," the marine captain replied.

Altros ignored the comment and instead asked another question, "What are you doing here, Foirege?"

"Well, I'm looking for you, Altros. Headquarters would very much like to know what happened. You helped us gather pirates for so long, and then just disappeared, dropping your locater into the ocean." Foirege said viciously.

Altros' mouth twitched in annoyance as he thought back to the day he'd joined the Straw Hats. As he'd watched the island finally vanish from sight he'd taken the locater from his pocket and dropped it over the railing. The marine noticed Altros' reaction and smirked, "Now, now, Altros. You should know not to be so impudent. You wouldn't want anything to happen to the kid, would you?"

Altros clenched his fists and his jaw at Foirege's comment. "What do you want, Foirege?"

"Oh, you needn't worry yourself, boy, after all, the Straw Hats are docked on this island are they not? You can let us handle things from here."

"You know I can't let you touch them," Altros said.

Foirege laughed, "What's this? You've developed feelings for them? That isn't like you Altros, and besides, we both know you won't raise a finger against us, not if you ever want to see that brat again."

Altros glared at the marine, wanting to destroy the man standing before, but he couldn't…that was right. He couldn't, not if he wanted to be finished with this.

"ALTROS!"

Altros closed his eyes at the shout, willing Luffy to turn around, to not come here, but like always, Luffy appeared, skidding to a stop a distance back, looking at Altros in confusion. Luffy stuck his small finger in his ear and twisted it back and forth as he spoke, "Oi, Altros, what's going on? Where have you been?"

"He was spying on us," Foirege said with a confident smile. Altros turned and glared at the marine to which Foirege laughed, "What, you think I don't know when I'm being watched? Altros you've learned very little."

"Oi! How do you know Altros?" Luffy demanded.

Foirege chuckled mirthfully, "What? You don't know? He hasn't told you? He's been helping us catch pirates for years now." Foireger broke into a fit of laughter as Luffy just stared straight ahead, the marines words sinking in. Altros was helping the marines? It couldn't be, he was wanted by the marines…wasn't he?


	9. Chapter 9

"Luffy," Altros said as he stared down the marines, "Get the others and get out of here."

"Huh? Why would I do that? I'm not leaving my nakama behind."

"Do it, Luffy!" Altros said turning his head to look back the future pirate king, "I'll catch up. Just be sure the ship is ready to go the second I get there."

"Ah, ok then," Luffy said suddenly grinning. Almost as fast as he'd arrived, Luffy disappeared as he sprinted back to the ship. Altros turned to look at Foirege, satisfied by the dark scowl on the marines face.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Altros," the marine warned.

"So are you," Altros said in reply, "Now turn around and go back to your ships."

"You think you can give me orders?" Foirege shouted and then turned to look back to the marines, "Men, after that Strawhat! Don't let them get away!"

Altros tilted his head down, shadows covering his eyes. He knew it would come to violence, despite how much he wished it wouldn't. He brought his arms up to his sides and stretched them out. "Follow that order and I'll kill you before you can take a second step."

The marines paused, but only until they heard the click of a gun being primed. Foirege was holding a pistol, aiming it at Altros. "Be careful Altros, you wouldn't want that kid to get hurt for your mistakes, would you?"

Altros clenched his jaw as his mind raced. What to do, what to do….. He thought about the Strawhats, he couldn't say he knew them well, he hadn't been with them long, and Foirege was threatening to kill the boy that Altros had taken care of years before. But, the Strawhats wouldn't give up on a nakama, and they wouldn't give up on their dreams. Altros thought about that. When he'd first been forced to work with the marines he thought it would be an opportunity to take the world government down from the inside, but he'd given up hope of that after…..

Altros looked straight into Foirege's eyes as a knowing smile passed across his face. "That boy is dead. He's been dead for three years, Foirege, you should know, you're the one who killed him."

"What?" Foirege said, disbelief evident on his face, "How did you…?"

Altros smirked, "Oh Foirege, you've learned so very little." He echoed the marines' words from a couple minutes earlier.

Foirege growled angrily and stilled his shaking hand, taking aim with the pistol.

**BANG!**

Altros blinked once, twice, thrice. What had just happened? As Foirege had pulled the trigger the pistol had suddenly gone flying out of the marines hand, sending the bullet off into the forest, and then suddenly arms sprouted out of the marines body and held him, bewildered fear in his eyes.

"Clutch."

There was a loud crack as the marines back was broken and he slumped to the ground. Altros spun around and saw Robin, arms crossed in front of her, head bowed ever so slightly. She looked up at him with her usual smile. If the situation had been different he would have laughed, but there was still a large group of marines to deal with. Altros looked at the group of marines who were all tensed. He didn't want to overdo it, but he couldn't afford to let even one of them give chase.

"Sting….." Stingers suddenly appeared on his spread out arms, facing the marines. He gave the one last glance and then threw his arms to opposite sides in front of him, "…Sweep!"

The marines nearly all cried out in unison, each have been hit at least once. Most of them fell, grabbing their chests as the coughed and struggled to breath. A few fell down into unconscious heaps. The poison in the stingers worked fast. Altros hoped that none of them had been hit four times as he turned and started running toward Robin. She saw and turned as well, starting to run as Altros caught up to her.

It didn't take long to reach the ship, and as they raced towards it they could see the others already on deck, having untied the ship from the dock.

"Oi!" Luffy shouted, waving his arms, "Altros! Robin! Let's go!"

"What?" Nami asked, turning to look at the two running toward the ship, "Robin? You were out there?"

"Hai, Nami-san," Robin said as she and Altros leapt onto the ship.

"Woohoo! Let's go!" Luffy shouted. The sails unfurled and caught a gust of wind and they started away from the island.

* * *

As the island finally disappeared from view everyone turned to look at the man sitting next to the mast, still breathing heavily. They wanted answers.

"Alright, what the hell is going?" Nami asked, "First Usopp comes back babbling like an idiot and then Luffy gets back and tells us to untie the ship. What gives, Altros? Where have you been?"

"Spying on the marines, apparently," Robin said.

"The marines?" Almost everyone said in unison.

Robin nodded, "It seems that they were searching for him-"

"Robin!" Altros said, interrupting her, "Please? I can handle it myself."

Everyone looked at Altros, silent, waiting for some answers. A number of them had their arms crossed over their chest, others just stared at Altros as he slowly got to his feet and then leaned against the mast.

Altros started, "It started four years ago. The marines captured me, sentenced me to be sent to Impel Down, but at the last minute made me an offer, 'to honor my father's service,' they said. I would move around from island to island whenever I felt it was time to go, which was when the citizens found out who I was and chased me off. I would hunt down pirates for them, kill them, capture them, so long as there was one less pirate to worry about they didn't care.

When you all showed up though, I made up my mind. I was done doing their dirty work. I threw the pebble they used to track me into the ocean."

"A pebble?" Zoro said, scoffing in disbelief.

"It was unique," Altros said, "It was paired with an eternal pose that they kept."

"Why not throw it in the ocean once they were out of the way?" Usopp asked.

Altros looked at the ground, "And do what? Go where? There wasn't anything I could do that they wouldn't be able to use to track me down, not until you showed up."

"Well they obviously tracked you down somehow," Sanji said.

Altros shook his head, "No…I think it was a fluke."

"What makes you say that?" Nami asked.

"Those ruins," Altros said, "The silhouettes, burnt ground…I think the marines use that island for testing weapons."

"What weapon could they have that would leave evidence like that?" Franky asked even as he started going through the possibilities.

"The Buster Call…." Robin whispered, causing everyone to turn and look at her.

"The….Buster Call?" Nami said, "You can't be serious. Why would they do that, why would they kill people just to test something like that?"

"This is the World Government we're talking about," Sanji offered.

Nami gave a single nod, "I suppose…"

They stood in silence for a few minutes, each thinking, some have more trouble than others doing that.

"What about the boy?" Robin asked, breaking the quiet.

Altros closed his eyes, wishing she'd left that alone. "What boy?" Nami asked, looking from Robin to Altros.

Altros sighed and told them, "His name was Davin. I met him about five years ago, sort of became an older brother to him, in my eyes anyway. In his, I was his father. When the marines caught me, they took him too, as insurance that I wouldn't disobey them. Two years ago, I found out that he'd been killed anyway, they still wanted me to think he was alive. I let them believe that I didn't know he was gone…" Tears started dropping from his eyes, "I promised him I'd take care of him, and I failed. I gave up when that happened. I couldn't save one boy, so how could I possibly topple the World Government?"

"Oi, Altros," Luffy said, drawing everyone's gaze, "Was he happy? Davin, I mean. Was he happy with you?" Altros nodded, eyes still closed. "Then you didn't fail him," Luffy said, "You took care of him up until you couldn't anymore. It was the marines who didn't take care of him."

"Luffy…" Nami whispered, looking at their captain. Somehow, Luffy always knew what to say in these situations. Whether it was his innocence and kindness, or instinct, would likely never be known. The rest of the crew gave small smiles, and Altros gazed up at the young pirate. Strawhat Luffy was an enigma, but one he found himself becoming very grateful to be around.


	10. Chapter 10

**Short update. I've decided that I'm gonna alter the direction of this story somewhat and actually focus more on the relationship between Robin and Altros, so yeah, i guess it's turning into what alot of the fanfics on here seem to be, at least the ones I read anyway =P**

**Please, read and review. Any criticism is good criticism.  
**

* * *

The next week passed by peacefully, no one making any mention of the small scare they'd had on the previous island. Throughout the days Altros slowly found himself joining the others in their normal activities. He trained some with Zoro, though not nearly as much as the swordsman was capable of, help Chopper make medicine, joined Usopp and Franky in making some upgrades to the ship, and even helped Sanji cook a few meals and to his surprise show the cook how to make snacks that most of the crew had never heard of and none had ever tried, called cookies. Luffy of course ate most of them.

As the air grew colder throughout the day, the crew found themselves retreating inside to warm up. It wasn't long before they started to see snow falling out the windows, much to Luffy's disappointment, until he realized he could make a snowman, at which point he rushed outside laughing. While Luffy went outside along with Usopp and Chopper, the others stayed indoors, spread throughout the ship. Zoro of course was in the birds nest training, Sanji was in the kitchen making snacks for Nami and Robin, and everyone else was sitting in the lounge paying very close attention to the game of chess that was being played there.

The opposing players stared at each other, trying to gauge the others thoughts as they planned out their own moves. Every so often the quiet tap of a piece being set down to the side as it was knocked out by an opposing piece would interrupt the quiet, but other than that it was silent. That is, until a shout of surprise echoed throughout the ship.

"I don't believe it!" Nami said as she leaned over the game board trying to find some sort of mistake.

"What's so hard to believe?" Robin asked.

Nami blinked and looked up at the older woman, "Robin….you lost. You NEVER lose!"

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Altros said as he leaned back in his chair, looking quite pleased with himself.

Nami's gaze fell on the man and she scowled, eliciting a grin from Altros and Franky who looked at each other and bumped fists. Nami stood up and started stalking toward the door, muttering under her breath darkly. The door slammed shut behind her as she left, at which point Franky broke down into fits of laughter.

"Do you think she'll actually pay up?" Altros asked in reference to the bet he'd made with the navigator.

Franky struggled to talk through his laughter, "Not-not a chance! Ahahahaha…."

Altros smiled contentedly, quite ok with that fact. He turned and looked at the woman sitting across from him, "Good game, Robin. Care to have another go at it?"

"Of course," Robin nodded, a look in her eyes that hinted at devious intent that made Altros more than a little nervous. He'd gotten the feeling she'd been going easy on him. He'd find out soon enough if that was the case as they started setting the board up again for a rematch.

* * *

Altros leaned back and stretched his arms, yawning. It was late at night and everyone had gathered in the lounge to hang out and chat a bit before bed. Nami had done a complete turnaround when she heard that after that first game, Robin had won all six others, taking it as evidence that she didn't have to pay up. Altros didn't mind though, he'd just wanted to have some fun.

"Ahhh! I'm tired!" Luffy exclaimed, falling backwards to the floor and then moving slightly to make himself comfortable. As he laid there staring up at the ceiling, his body started shaking and then he grabbed his arms, "It's cold!"

Simultaneously almost everyone shouted at him, "You were outside all day!" They couldn't believe that he was only now realizing it had gotten cold.

Altros chuckled at the antics, glad that a day on the Sunny was never boring. His smile turned into a look of surprise though as the ship came to a sudden stop amid a crashing sound, throwing everyone out of their seats.

"What was that?" Usopp asked in a panic.

They rushed out to the deck and skidded to a stop. It was pitch black until Nami grabbed a lantern and wandered further out.

"It looks like…"

"Ice."

"Hey, you guys!" Choppers voice called from the back of the ship.

They moved to where Chopper was and saw out through a large opening. Out beyond it, it they could see the sea and some land.

"Looks like an island," Sanji said, stating the obvious.

"Then what's this?" Franky asked, gesturing to the ice around them.

"Could be a small glacier," Altros offered.

"What do we do now?" Zoro asked, scratching his head.

"It's too dark to try and figure out how much damage there is, and we aren't going anywhere, so I say leave it until the morning," Nami said.

"Works for me."

"Me too."

"Yep."

"Sounds good, to me."

One by one the Strawhat's filed back inside, deciding it was time to go to bed. Altros raised an eyebrow at them as they disappeared inside. They'd just crashed and likely had a damaged ship, and they weren't panicking about it, rather they seemed almost indifferent to the situation. He was still being met with surprises from them all. Was there anything about this crew that was normal? He got the feeling that that was probably an unnecessary question. Shaking his head lightly, Altros smiled and followed after the others.

As he walked he felt someone grab his wrist and stop him. He turned around as the hand let go and saw….nothing. He blinked a few times until he saw the door to the lounge swing open and a thin hand appeared from inside, hooking one finger and beckoning him to enter the room. He raised an eyebrow as a slight smile played across his face and then went to the lounge. He stopped in the doorway and leaned against the frame, crossing his arms over his chest.

"One more game?" Robin asked, sitting at the table with the chess board set up and ready.

* * *

**What could possibly happen? You'll find out with the next update. No, it won't be lemon, I suck at writing that stuff. The ideas I've got bouncing around my head don't call for anything like that either, at least not for quite a while. I'm hoping to draw it out so you can see the relationship develop. I'm rambling now, aren't I?...yeah...R&R!**


	11. Chapter 11

Altros sat down across from Robin and gave her a questioning look that she seemed to ignore completely as she immediately moved a piece. Altros decided to play along and grabbed a piece, not paying attention to it as he set it down. They continued like that in silence for ten minutes before Robin's demeanor seemed to return to normal and she set an elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand.

"So, what's eating ya?" Altros asked.

Robin looked up at him quizzically, "Nothing at all. Why? Should there be?"

Altros raised an eyebrow at her as he set down a bishop, "You know, I'm older than these kids, and I've been around. You can fool them all you want to, you're damn good at it, but don't think it'll fool me."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," Robin replied quickly, looking down at the game board.

Altros smirked, "Of course not…."

They continued the game for almost thirty more minutes without a word, deciding to focus on the game instead. Altros' mouth twisted into a slight frown more than several times when Robin made a move that let him take a piece. He glanced up at her and saw her intently looking toward the board, but her eyes didn't move at all. She was focused on something else entirely and wanted it to look like she was focusing on the game. It was starting to get on Altros' nerves, not because he wanted to know what it was, but because he was seeing it at all. Nico Robin was all but impossible to read, her demeanor hardly ever changed, yet here she was, obviously thinking about something and making little attempt to hide it.

"Check," Robin said with a smile, finally looking up at Altros.

He looked down at the board and hardly had to think about it before replying, "Check Mate."

Robin's eyes followed his hand as he moved a rook down to be between the piece she'd just moved and his king. She looked around the board to find that her king was now surrounded. With a sigh she conceded and knocked her own king over. She stood from her seat and said, "Thank you for the game." Then she walked around the table and headed to the door, but was stopped when Altros grabbed her wrist. She looked back at him calmly, her eyes moving from his hand to his eyes.

"What? No reward for winning?" Altros said teasingly.

Robin turned to face him with a smirk, "I wasn't aware we were playing for a reward, otherwise I wouldn't have let you win."

"Uh-huh," Altros said, "I'm sure."

They both knew she hadn't let him win that game. Altros let go of her wrist and stood up, then walked over to the seat next to the fish tank and sat down. Robin watched him and then walked over to the couch herself and sat next to him.

"What sort of reward were you after?" She asked, looking at him from the corners of her eyes.

Altros rested his elbow on the back of the couch and leaned his head into a balled up hand as he looked at Robin, "How about an answer to my earlier question?"

Robin looked up in thought, feigning forgetfulness, "I can't seem to recall any question. How unfortunate."

Altros smirked at the game she was playing, but decided to go along with it anyway and repeat the question, "What's eating ya?"

"Nothing, I should hope," Robin said.

"Har har har," Altros said, slightly amused by the joke. "Tell me."

"Didn't I just say?"

"…"

"Well, you got your reward," Robin said, pushing herself up off the couch.

Altros grabbed her wrist again, and this time pulled her back down to the couch and then repeated, "Tell me."

"You're lucky Sanji isn't here, or he would have gone berserk at you for that," Robin said, smiling and looking away.

"Stop avoiding the question, Nico Robin," Altros said leaning toward her.

She turned her head to look at him, it was the first time she'd heard him use her full name. "You're quite serious, aren't you?" She asked.

"Yep."

"That's a shame," She said, smirking with a glint in her eye.

She stood up again, but wasn't stopped by Altros as she went to the door, a hana hana no mi arm keeping him in place. He let out a huff and smirked, "Well, I'm going to be staying up a while longer yet if you change your mind."

"I'm sure I won't," Robin said as she opened the door and then disappeared from sight, the arm disappearing in a burst of petals.

* * *

"Mmmm-huh?" Nami said as she blinked, waking up from sleeping. She squinted and looked up, finding someone standing next to her, gently trying to shake her awake. She yawned and sat up. "Robin? What's going on?"

"I need your help, Nami-san," Robin said quietly.

Nami suddenly became very alert. Robin wanted her help? That was unheard of, the older woman always seemed quite capable of doing anything on her own, so why would she need Nami's help? "What is it?"

* * *

They woke the next morning to gray skies hanging overhead, the signs of a town not to far inland. They'd managed to get the Sunny out of the cave of ice it had ran into and found that the whole coast was lined with similar indentations in the ice.

"Alright, so everyone's ready?" Nami asked as she looked at the group. Everyone was on the deck, ready to head to the town.

"Yosh! Let's go!" Luffy said, eager to go on another adventure.

As everyone started to disembark, Nami stepped back and bumped into Altros. "Hey, Altros? Would you mind staying and watching the ship?"

Altros shrugged at the navigator and nodded. Giving a last glance to the others he turned and walked to the lounge, yawning widely. Nami watched him go, scowling. He was probably going to be sleeping the entire time. Sighing, she turned and followed after the others, immediately grabbing the ecstatic captain by the cheek and telling him to behave. It wasn't long until they were out of sight of the Sunny altogether.


	12. Chapter 12

**Everyone can thank CertainDestiny for this chapter getting up so quickly. Getting reviews is great motivation to keep writing!**

* * *

The Straw Hats were more than a little confused when they entered the town to see a large group of people wearing swim trunks and bathing suits, rushing off to the North.

"Uh, hey," Nami said, stopping someone who'd walked close by them, "What's going on, why's everyone dressed like that?"

"Eh? We're going to the beach!"

"Beach?" Almost all the pirates said in unison.

"Hahaha! You lot ain't from around here, huh? I'm guessing all you've seen is the snow and ice. This island is actually has multiple climates and seasons occurring at once. The North side of the island is always like summer!"

The citizen of the town then bounded off, running to catch up with the others before the Straw Hats could even reply.

"Multiple seasons on one island?" Usopp said in disbelief, "Is that possible?"

"It shouldn't be…" Nami said.

"This is the Grand Line," Robin pointed out.

Everyone nodded at that and accepted it. They'd seen enough weird things to know anything was possible on the Grand Line.

"Mmm! I smell something good!" Chopper said, abruptly moving on to a new topic.

Luffy looked at Chopper and then turned and raised his head a little bit, sniffing the air. "Ooooo! Yeah! It smells really good!"

"Luffy, wait!" Nami shouted, throwing her hand out toward the rubberman who was already far out of reach, running toward a tavern. She sighed and started trudging after him, everyone else in tow.

* * *

Altros was in the lounge, laying on the couch and looking lazily up at the ceiling. At least he could use the time to catch up on the sleep he'd missed last night. He had stayed up for several hours, mulling over everything that had happened that day, trying to find some clue as to why Robin was acting so strangely.

He closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep when a faint thud made him snap his eyes open. He turned his head to look at the door to the lounge and listened intently, but didn't hear anything else. He shrugged it off as a tired mind playing tricks on him and closed his eyes again. After two minutes had passed as he tried to clear his head, he heard the creak of the lounge door open and heard footsteps move rather quickly over to him. Whoever it was had to be short after taking all those steps….

"Hey, Chopper, what're you doing back so s-" He was cut off by an angry yell and his eyes snapped open to find a blade poised over his chest and coming down fast.

He barely had time to react, and as his arms moved up, the knife struck, stabbing into his forearm. He screamed in pain and brought his other arm around, fist balled up. He hit his attacker and sat up, looking through teary eyes at the knife sticking out of his arm. He quickly grabbed the handle in a tight grip and yanked the knife out.

"ARRGH! DAMMIT!" He yelled as the knife came loose and he dropped it to the ground.

He gritted his teeth and put a hand over his arm to try and slow the bleeding and then looked up to glare at his attacker who was slowly sitting up. His glare was almost instantly replaced with wide eyes when he saw the attacker, rubbing his cheek and crying. It was just a kid. Then he heard more fast footsteps and another child came and stood defiantly between Altros and the boy on the ground.

"Don't touch my big brother!" The boy yelled angrily.

Altros just blinked at the two small boys and then winced at the pain in his arm. What in the hell? A couple of kids? "What the bloody hell do you two think you're doing?" Altros said through clenched teeth.

The older boy was on his feet now, trying to stand in front of his brother. "You don't scare us pirate!"

Despite the words, the boy jumped back when Altros turned his eyes to the kid. Altros sighed, "Are you trying to get killed?"

"We're killing pirates!" The younger boy said proudly.

"Yeah, we'll kill any pirate that trys to hurt our home!"

Altros groaned and raised an eyebrow at the boys, "And how have I hurt your home?"

"Uh, well…..you were going to! But we'll stop you!"

"Ugh," Altros muttered as he stood up, causing both children to take several steps back. "Come with me you little brats, you're going to help me dress this wound."

Altros started walking toward the lounge door, grumbling about kids and irrational behavior.

* * *

A chorus of laughter erupted from the patrons of the tavern as Luffy and Chopper danced on a table with sticks held in their nostrils and mouths. Nearby Franky was yelling SUPER! Repeatedly and posing. It hadn't taken long for the small party to erupt once everyone had gotten to the tavern. By the time they'd all gotten inside, Luffy had already eaten five plates of food. The citizens of the town who were there seemed to greatly enjoy the visitor's antics. Robin had asked about the apparent ease everyone was at and it was explained that it was how the island had always been. They welcomed travelers with open arms and loved to enjoy themselves.

Nami, as usual, was yelling at Luffy to knock it off. Usopp was proudly telling one of his tall tales though no one seemed to be listening. Zoro had already found a group of people and they were all chugging down their drinks. Sanji was floating from one woman to another, complimenting them and pledging his undying love to them. Brook had somehow pulled a violin out of thin air and was happily playing and singing.

Despite all the noise and attention being given to the Straw Hat crew, everything went dead silent when the door opened and then closed. Altros stood there, each hand gripping a shoulder of the young boys. He looked around and took in a breath, "Do these belong to anyone here?"

"Boys!" A man shouted.

Altros released his grip on them and the two children ran to their father, hugging to him closely. They started shouting, "He's a pirate! They're pirates!"

"Pirates?" Some one asked.

"Uh, well, you see…" Nami started to explain before being interrupted.

"Yeah, we're pirates," Luffy said as though he was surprised he had to say it at all.

Everyone visibly tensed up at the rubberman's words and the Straw Hat's looked around somewhat nervously, or in Usopp's case, very nervously.

"What's the problem?" Zoro said, "We're just here to rest and resupply."

Someone cleared their throat, "Excuse us, we don't mean to offend, it's just that the last time pirates came to this island, they destroyed an entire town. That was quite some time ago, but we remember it well."

"We aren't here to cause trouble! Honest!" Nami said, waving her hands and trying to grin convincingly.

"They're lying; they're here for the treasure!" One of the small boys shouted, stubbornly refusing to believe them.

"Treasure?" Nami said, beli signs suddenly floating across her vision.

"It's only a superstition," someone said, "Besides, even if it were real there's no way to find it."

Nami's demeanor rapidly changed from excited to depressed, at that news. She wanted to ask more about it but wasn't able to when Altros walked forward to the man the boys had run to. He pulled a knife out and held the blade, offering the handle to the man.

"I assume this is yours then."

"It's got blood on it!" The man said as he took the knife.

"Relax," Altros said, "It's just mine."

"Yours?"

"Yeah. Your kids snuck onto our ship. I was resting and they tried to kill me. Would've done it too if he hadn't yelled."

"What!" The man said, looking down to his boys. "Why would you two do something so foolish? I am so sorry, sir, please accept my sincer-"

"It's alright," Altros said, putting his hands up, "I'm alive and no one's hurt. Besides, your kids have heart. They wanted to protect your island. Can't really fault them for that."

Usopp scratched his head, "Uh, but Altros, they tried to kill you…"

Altros looked at Usopp, "Like I said, I'm alive and no one's hurt. Might as well just leave it at that and move on."

"Where are you hurt?" Chopper asked, trotting up to Altros.

"It's just a scratch on my arm," Altros said, "I've already taken care of it. It's fine."

"I am so sorry…" The man started saying again.

Altros stopped him, "It's fine. You've got brave kids. Maybe a little foolish, but brave."

Altros looked at the two boys who were just staring at him in disbelief. They had thought for sure he was going to kill them, but instead he'd just marched them off the ship and back to town, and he'd called his wound a scratch. They couldn't believe he would lie about that gash.

"Now," Altros said, "I believe I heard some sort of party going on before I came in…"

Almost immediately the sound of a violin started and Brook started singing, "Yohohoho….yo-hohoho…."

It took a few minutes, but the tavern returned to the lively place it had been before Altros showed up, almost everyone seeming to forget what had just happened. Altros looked down when he felt a tug on his arm.

"I'm sorry, mister…." One of the boys said.

"Me too!" The other added.

Altros smiled and crouched down, "Apology accepted. Just be careful from now on. There are people out there who _would_ hurt you for what you did."

The boys nodded their heads vigorously and Altros stood up. He smiled and gave them a wink before turning to go join the rest of his nakama. He felt a strange sense of contentment at the situation. Those kids had reminded him of how much he liked helping children learn and grow. He smiled sadly as his thoughts turned to Davin, but he allowed the memories to pass and joined in on the festivities.

Nami gave up trying to calm Luffy down and looked around. She saw Robin resting her head in her hand and looking at Altros. She smiled knowingly, that was right, she still had to help Robin. Now just to figure out how….


	13. Chapter 13

A day passed and the crew had moved the Sunny around to the North side of the island, and were all on the beach, enjoying the sun. Well, almost all of them were. Nami had kept some of them onboard the ship, promising they'd get to the beach, but only after they helped her with something.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Usopp asked, glancing at the ship.

"Ah, who cares?" Luffy said, throwing a frisbee at the sniper.

Nearby, Zoro was leaning against a palm tree resting and chimed in, "I for one am glad I don't know. Whenever Nami starts plotting something the only thing to come of it is money for her and bruises for everyone else."

"But what would she be plotting?" Chopper asked, catching the frisbee and then throwing it to Usopp.

Luffy tilted his head to the side and looked up thoughtfully, "Huh, I dunno. What do you think, Altros? Altros? Hey where'd Altros go?"

Usopp pointed behind Luffy, "He's over there walking along the beach."

"I wonder why he's keeping to himself so much lately," Franky said, pushing his sunglasses up as he eyed the man from afar.

"Heh, maybe he's worried about what Nami's scheming," Zoro said with a smirk

"I don't know," Usopp said, "He's not the type of guy to worry over stuff like that."

"Then what type of guy is he?" Chopper asked, curious.

"Um, well…" Usopp tried to think of something to say but was saved when Luffy spoke up.

"Eh, that guy's impossible to understand. Hahahaha!"

Everyone else on the beach looked at Luffy, biting their tongues to keep back the all too obvious replies they could say to that. Luffy caught the Frisbee again and laughed, then pulled his arm back to throw it.

"Hey, Zoro! Heads up!"

Zoro had closed his eyes and tried to go back to resting peacefully when Luffy yelled. "Huh?" He opened his eyes just in time to see the Frisbee the moment before it hit him. He brought a hand up to his face and growled, "Dammit, Luffy!"

* * *

After about another hour the rest of the crew finally went to the beach. Sanji was in a notably sour mood, much to Zoro's delight, but that seemed to disappear as he started swooning over Nami and Robin again. Everyone was in their bathing suits and having fun in their own way. Zoro was sleeping. Franky and Usopp were building an impossible big sand castle. Luffy, Brook and Chopper were running around laughing. Nami was sun bathing, and Robin was sitting in the shade of an umbrella, reading. Sanji continued going back and forth between Nami and Robin, though a few of them noticed he wasn't being as over the top as he usually was when he was near Robin. Finally, Altros stood with his feet in the water, looking out at the vast, calm waters.

He had a slight smile on his face as he watched the waves roll in, feeling them rushing by his ankles. It was utterly peaceful here. Serene. He took in a breath of fresh air and the calm moment was interrupted as Luffy crashed into him. Altros fell backwards into the sand while Luffy stumbled forward, landing in about an inch of water. Luffy started yelling and flailing as though he were drowning, drawing everyone's gaze. Altros shook his head and stood up and walked over to the captain and standing next to him.

Luffy sopped flailing as he saw a pair of feet right next to his head. He sat up and looked around to find that he wasn't actually drowning. With a look of relief he turned and looked up to Altros, laughing.

"Shishishishishi! Ah, I thought I was gonna drown!"

Altros smiled and shook his head as he looked down at the boy. "You should be more careful, captain. If we'd been on the ship, you would be drowning right now."

"Hee! Yeah!" Luffy said, hopping back up to his feet. He turned and started running back toward Brook and Chopper who'd gone to see how Franky and Usopp's project was coming along. "Oi! You guys! That castle looks so cool!"

Altros chuckled and looked over to where the others were sitting. He saw Robin looking toward him, laughing lightly behind her book before turning back to reading. His mind jumped to the night before and his smile faded as he once again thought about what was going on with that woman. She'd been in a bright mood when her, Nami, Sanji, and Brook had all come ashore. It hadn't seemed too odd. He'd been more aware of Sanji's seemingly depressed state and the glowering look he'd given Altros when he walked by the man. Nami had been smiling as though she knew a secret. And Brook….well it was Brook, and he'd be damned if he was going to read the facial expression of a skeleton.

* * *

As night fell, the crew returned to the ship, eager to have dinner and go to bed. Altros tried to hide a yawn as he walked toward the kitchen. He had watch tonight, so he'd need to stay awake. He pushed the door to the kitchen open and stopped. Everyone who was in the kitchen stopped and turned to look at him, even Luffy, who already had his mouth stuffed with food. He frowned at them and started walking forward.

"Oi," Sanji said, "Your meal's up in the crow's nest."

Altros turned to the cook and his frown deepened, "What?"

Nami immediately spoke up, waving her hand as though to wave it off as nothing, "Oh come now, it isn't that bad up there. Besides, this way you don't have to worry about climbing up after you're done, to go on watch."

Altros' gaze fell on the navigator who tried to hide behind a smile. He doubted that asking what was going on would get an answer. Might as well just go and find out what they were up to in due time. He turned, his gaze linger on those in the room before he shut the door. He could hear quiet laughter inside, as well as Nami shushing whoever was laughing, and Sanji mumbling loudly. He hadn't seen Brook, Robin, or Franky in there and wondered where they were at. He continued puzzling over it as he climbed to the crow's nest. Why would they go to the trouble of putting his meal up here? They were up to something, but he hadn't the slightest clue wh-….

He'd opened the door in the floor and started climbing up through it, but stopped when he was halfway through and stared at the center of the room. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile as he realized why the others were acting so oddly, but what was all this about? He finished climbing up and closed the door before standing up straight and walking to the table just off the center of the room. He sat in the empty chair and looked down at the table and food on it before his gaze shifted upward to the raven-haired woman across from him, sipping on a glass of wine.

"Well, this is a surprise," Altros said, "What's the occasion?"

Robin smiled and shrugged before placing an elbow on the table and resting her head in her hand. She met Altros' gaze with one of her own, cool, calm, and collected, she was determined not to be the one who got caught off guard tonight.

"Oh, nothing. Bon appétit," she said, picking up a fork and starting to eat.

Altros watched her for several more moments before conceding and beginning to eat as well. He looked up as the lights in the room flickered erratically before shutting off and blinking back on giving off only a dim light. With a smirk he turned back to his food, noticing that Robin had seemed to completely ignore the change in lighting. A minute later and Altros also started to notice the faint sound of a violin from somewhere on the ship. It was curious that Brook wasn't singing along to the tune, and in fact, it wasn't the sort of tune he usually played. Altros chuckled as he shook his head and then looked at Robin and smiled.

* * *

"Ah, I wish I could see how it's going up there," Nami said as she and the rest of the crew stood on the deck, looking up at the crow's nest.

"Wasn't it your idea to give them some privacy?" Zoro asked. He and the others who had been on the beach earlier had been filled in on what was going on almost right before Altros had walked into the kitchen earlier.

"Do you think this'll really work, Nami?" Chopper asked.

Luffy was the one to reply, "Shishishishishi, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah, it's none of our business anyway," Zoro said as he turned and started walking away, "I'm going to bed."

Franky sniffed and wiped his eyes before turning and following Zoro. As he walked away he said, "It's such a beautiful atmosphere….dammit!"

"Uh, you alright, Sanji?" Usopp asked, noticing the man biting down hard on his cigarette, his fist at his sides shaking.

Nami looked at the cook and a serious expression crossed her face. As quietly as was possible for her, she hit Sanji over the head and gave him a wicked smile that promised of misery, "Sanji….if you do anything to ruin Robin's night, I'm going to flay you with your own knives, got it!"

Sanji looked wide eyed at the fiery red head and nodded, "A-aye, Nami-swan." As the navigator smiled in satisfaction she went and headed to bed herself. Once she had taken a few steps away Sanji was on his feet again, watching her go, "Ah, the scary name is so wonderful!"

Usopp sighed and shook his head at Sanji's idiocy. The rest of the crew turned and headed back into the ship, exhausted from the day. The same moment the door shut, the sound of laughter drifted down to the deck.


	14. Chapter 14

Altros tilted his head back and downed the rest of his wine before leaning back. He couldn't remember the last time he'd enjoyed a meal so much, though he suspected it had more to do with the company than the food. Looking across the table at Robin, they smiled at each other. Both had flushed cheeks from drinking several glasses of wine, and they couldn't seem to help but laugh at the smallest things as they talked.

They both stopped talking for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm themselves, the occasional chuckle and giggle escaping into the air. Once again, Robin placed her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand, looking at Altros with a warm smile. Altros smiled backed and mimicked her, leaning forward slightly as he spoke, "So. Is all this what's had you so off your game, lately?"

Robin sighed, her eyes looking up as her smile widened. "I believe this has much to do with it, yes."

"Well, now I know why Nami kept you, Sanji, and Brook on the ship so much today," Altros said tilting his head slightly and glancing out the window into a clear night sky. He turned to look at her, their eyes meeting and lingering for a time before Altros spoke up again, "Want to get some fresh air?"

"Mmm, yes," Robin said.

The two stood from their seats and headed down to the deck of this ship, walking toward the bow. They stood next to each other and leaned on the railing, looking out at the dark waters that reflected moonlight and starlight back in ripples. The sea was calm, and there was a gentle breeze blowing, pushing them along. They stood there in silence for a long time, content to simply be next to each other.

Finally Altros broke the silence, "You know, I've never done something like this before. Never got the chance for that 'normal' life."

"Me neither," Robin replied, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

Altros smiled and looked out at the night sky, the stars reflecting in his eyes. Robin turned her head slightly to see better and watched the light reflecting from his eyes. It was the first time she'd ever seen him with such a serene look on his face, and she couldn't help but smile. His barriers were finally breaking down. He was a part of the Straw Hat crew, but he wasn't as close as everyone else was to each other. They were more like a family than crew, and he'd distanced himself from that, not ready to have such a deep connection like that again.

He turned and looked at her, "I guess there are a lot of things you never got a chance to do, huh?"

Robin nodded, "Yes, there are, but now I've gotten to do many things I never thought I would."

Altros turned to look back out at sea as he replied, "Good. You deserve to experience those things."

Her brow creased as she looked at him. As he'd said those words, he looked almost sad. "So do you…"

Altros looked up and then turned to her, gazing directly at her eyes. Slowly he smiled at her and pushed off the railing, standing up straight. Somewhere on the ship, they could still hear Brook playing his violin. The living skeleton had been at it nonstop, and right now, Altros was glad the music was still going. He held his hand out to Robin. "Care to dance?"

She blinked at him and looked down at his hand. She blushed slightly as she took his hand, thankful it was dark out and likely would be hard to see. This night was going better than she'd hoped. She reminded herself that she'd need to thank Nami again.

* * *

Nearby in the ship Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Usopp, and Franky were all crouched by a window, peeking out from time to time and talking quietly. Nami had moved her head up to look again and gasped, causing everyone to turn to her.

"They're….dancing!"

"No way!" Usopp said, peeking out as well.

"Really?" Chopper asked.

Franky grinned, "Alright, Altros-aniki."

"Why that…" Sanji said as he reached for the door handle, but was quickly stopped when Nami hit him as hard as she could.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Nami hissed, "They're just dancing."

"It looks like they're hugging…" Chopper said, confused.

"What?" Nami asked as she looked out again.

"Ah," Usopp said as he glanced down at Chopper, "They're just dancing closer to each other."

Sanji was on his knees with a pathetic face as he muttered, "Why….?"

* * *

Altros huffed a short laugh and Robin looked at him questioningly. He saw the look and his smile widened as he shook his head, "It's nothing."

"Tell me anyway," Robin said, smiling back.

Altros shook his head again. He knew that under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even consider telling her, but he had had quite a few glasses of wine not long ago and he would later guess it was that that had given him the guts to say it. "It's nothing, but fine. I just realized, I'm thirty years old and this is the closest I've come to sex."

Robin froze completely at that, blushing and looked at him with wide eyes. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "What did you expect? I'm a guy, if I'm dancing with a beautiful woman and the thought doesn't enter my head at least once, then something's wrong."

Robin giggled at his explanation and they started moving again, but laughing quietly for a minute. Robin finally worked up the courage to reply, "It is for me as well…"

Altros let out a short laugh and the thought left their minds, neither one of them thinking about anything as they moved slowly across the deck. Altros' eyes were half shut and Robin had closed hers completely, resting her head against Altros' shoulder. He felt her hair tickled the corner of his chin and turned his head slightly. They continued like that for close to twenty more minutes before finally breaking apart.

Altros took Robin's hand and kissed it, "Thank you for the dance."

Robin smiled widely, "Thank you for tonight."

"So," Altros said, "Is this what had you so flustered?"

Robin blinked at him, slightly taken aback, "It isn't obvious?"

Altros chuckled softly, "No it is, just thought I'd make sure since there's always a chance…."

Robin smiled at him, realizing it was late. The night had gone perfectly, and she wanted it to continue, but she also thought_, don't rush things. He isn't going anywhere._

"Thank you again, Altros," She said, taking a step back, "Goodnight."

Altros smiled softly as he watched her continue walking backwards, finally turning and heading back inside the ship. It was odd, as she'd opened the door he could have sworn he'd heard the sound of someone running below deck. Probably the wind.

"Goodnight, Robin," He said after she'd closed the door.

* * *

She heard him though and leaned against the door with a contented sigh. Just behind Altros an ear burst into petals. Smiling happily she walked to the cabin she shared with Nami. When she opened the door she saw Nami, sitting on the edge of her bed and grinning at her. Robin closed the door and Nami immediately asked, "Well? How did it go?"

* * *

Altros heard light footsteps and smiled. "Thanks for the music, Brook."

"Ah," the skeleton said, "You are most welcome, yohohoho."

Altros laughed quietly as Brook went into the ship. Altros sat down on the deck and then laid back, putting his hand behind his head. He looked up at the starry sky and the moon. He smiled, silently thanking his luck that fate had decided to put him on this ship.


	15. Chapter 15

"Oh, my head," Altros muttered as he sat up, rubbing his forehead. He'd falling asleep on the deck of the Sunny and could already feel the effects of the wine from the night before. He hated hangovers, but he knew he should have expected it. They'd drank a whole bottle, and he'd downed most of it.

"Tch, about time you woke up," Zoro said from where he was nearby, working out.

"What time is it?" Altros asked.

"Hard to say," Zoro replied, lifting the weight over his head and swinging it down, "It's cloudy."

Altros looked up and found a gray sky overhead. He frowned, hadn't the townspeople said this part of the island was always sunny? He heard a shout and then laughter and looked to see Luffy and the others running around on deck. He looked up to the other end of the ship and saw Robin sitting in a lawn chair, reading. He blinked at her as last night played through his mind.

"Ah, shit…" He muttered standing up.

"Hm?" Zoro said, his eyes sliding to the side to look at Altros.

Altros sighed and shook his head, trying to clear it, "God damn, I can't believe I said that…"

Zoro looked at him questioningly for a moment and then shrugged and turned back to his workout. Altros stood, rubbing his eyes and praying that it wouldn't be awkward to talk to Robin in the future. He silently cursed his low tolerance for alcohol and then made his way back into the depths of the ship, heading for the cabin he shared with the others.

Once he'd cleaned up he went back up on deck. When he got there he found Nami trying to hold Luffy back from the edge of the ship, and failing as his arm stretched out. He was shouting 'Adventure!' repeatedly. Altros laughed and walked over to them.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Nami turned her head and looked at him, "Luffy wants to go search the island for that 'treasure' the townspeople mentioned."

A door opened and Usopp and Chopper stepped out, carrying some gear. "Yosh! We're ready to go, Luffy!" Usopp said.

Nami groaned but looked up in confusion as Altros placed a hand on her shoulder. "No worries, I'll go with them and make sure they stay out of trouble."

Nami let out a sigh of relief, "Alright, I suppose that will be okay."

"WAAHOO!" Luffy shouted, jumping and throwing his hands up into the air in triumph.

The four made their way down into the ship to the miniature Going Merry and got ready to set out. They were about to set off when the door opened and someone cleared their throat. They turned to find Robin standing, with her bag slung over her shoulder, one of her cowboy hats atop her head, and a slight smile on her lips.

"Mind if I come along?" She asked.

"Not at all," Altros replied quickly.

Chopper let out a cheer, "Yay! Robin's coming with us!"

* * *

Almost as soon as they left the beach and stepped into the edge of a forest, Luffy seemed to be everywhere at once, hand over his eyes as though to block out the sun.

"Is it here? What about here? Over there? How about over there? Up there? Under here? Oi, treasure, where are you?" Luffy said frantically.

"It isn't going to answer you, Luffy," Usopp said, shaking his head.

"OOOOOoooo! I found it!" Luffy yelled.

"Really?" Chopper asked as he trotted over to where Luffy was crouching.

"No way, lemme see!" Usopp added, joining them. When the sniper got there his shoulders sagged, "Luffy…that's just a beetle."

Luffy grinned and laughed, "Yeah, I know! Isn't it neat?"

Altros watched from a distance and chuckled as Usopp tried to scold Luffy and get him to focus on 'real' treasure. He smiled slightly as he watched them and heard Robin step up next to him. "It's hard not to envy them," he said.

Robin nodded her head in agreement, "I guess the two of us never really got to enjoy those years of our lives."

"Yeah," Altros said, "But, we've still got plenty more left to enjoy. It's better too, when you can share those times with others."

They were silent for a time as they continued watching the other three goofing around. Altros was thinking about the night before, and it was bugging him. He opened his mouth to start talking, but Robin beat him to it.

"If you're going to apologize for what you said last night, there's no need," Robin said, turning her head to smile at him.

He blinked, dumbfounded at her. Was she reading his mind or something? His mouth moved but no words came for a few moments, and then he finally managed to reply, "How did you….?"

She laughed lightly, "I'm not the only one on the Sunny who hears a lot."

Altros blinked at her, trying to figure out what she meant by that. Then it came to him. Zoro. Zoro had heard what he'd said when he'd woke, and the swordsman may not show it much, but his mind was as sharp as his blades. So, Zoro had told her….must have been when he was getting cleaned up.

"Alright then," Altros said, "I've got a question then, having to do with last night."

Robin looked at him expectantly and he turned away, fixing his eyes on some distant point in the trees.

"What is this?" Altros asked.

Robin turned her head away and looked at the ground in front of her as she thought. What was this? Good question… She'd never had this kind of relationship before. Beyond the Straw Hats she'd never had good friends before, and then Altros had to show up and be able to relate to her so well. She'd become attracted to him in the short time he'd been with them, but what did she want from him? She wasn't sure.

"I…I don't have an answer for you," Robin said.

Altros closed his eyes and gave a single nod. He understood, it was hard to sort out the inner turmoil caused by mixed emotions.

"Oi! Robin! Altros! Come on!" Usopp shouted over his shoulder as he started chasing after Luffy who had darted off again.

"Yeah, we're coming," Altros said as he started walking again.

They walked for nearly another hour, having to pick up their pace at times as Luffy would get excited by the smallest things and start running. That's what they were doing now in fact, frowning as they heard a very loud thud. When they had all reached the source they found Luffy had somehow embedded himself into the bottom of a cliffside. As soon as they'd come to a stop Luffy rebounded off the wall and fell.

"Hey, who put a wall in the way?" Luffy whined as he rubbed his head.

"You ran into it!" Usopp yelled.

"Are you okay Luffy?" Chopper asked as he trotted up next to the boy.

Luffy laughed and stood up, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You three may want to move," Robin said.

All three looked at her and simultaneously said, "Huh?"

"The ground you're on is cracking…." Altros said.

They all looked down to see the area they were standing on seemed to be made up of many rocks with dirt holding them together, but now it was cracking. Usopp screamed and jumped to the side to get off the dangerous ground, followed by Chopper. Luffy stood still, placing his hat on his head. He looked up and was grinning.

"I found mystery dirt!"

"Uh….what?" Usopp said while everyone gave Luffy an 'are you serious?' look.

They didn't get an answer though as the ground under Luffy shifted and gave way, seemingly sucking him down into the ground.

"Ah! Luffy!" Usopp and Chopper both said as they watched their still grinning captain disappear.

"Luffy!" Robin said, shocked that he had actually fallen into a now gaping hole in the ground.

Altros was at the edge of the hole on his hands and knees, leaning over it, trying to see through the darkness. "Luffy!" He shouted.

"I'm here!" was the reply that came back, much to everyone's relief.

"Dammit, Luffy. Can't we go anywhere without you doing something reckless?" Usopp asked, rolling his eyes.

"Shishishi, I guess not," Luffy said back as he stood up and brushed himself off. He looked around and from the little light coming through the hole above was able to see that he was in some sort of cavern.

"Let's get you out of there and get going, then," Altros said.

"No," Luffy said stubbornly, "This is where the treasure is."

"How do you know that, Luffy?" Robin asked, crouching down next to Altros and looking into the hole.

"I don't know," Luffy said, "Just a hunch."

Usopp groaned, "Not more of his hunches…"

"Hmph, I guess we're coming down then too," Altros said.

"You can't be serious! You're actually going down there?" Usopp asked.

Altros looked at the sniper and smirked, and then jumped down. Usopp watched in disbelief as the man disappeared, and then in silence as Robin gave a quiet laugh and jumped down as well.

"I'm coming too!" Chopper yelled, running and jumping into the hole.

Usopp groaned at his misfortune and with a slight hesitation jumped in as well, hitting the ground not so gracefully. He looked up and saw the others all standing, apparently having landed on their feet. With a huff he stood up and dug through his bag for the small lantern he kept there, and then lit it with a match. He held it out in front of him and saw that they appeared to be in a tunnel of some sort.

"So, Luffy, which way do we go?" Chopper asked eagerly.

"Whichever way leads to the treasure!" The Straw Hat captain said with a grin.

"And which way is that?" Altros asked.

Luffy's grin disappeared and was replaced by a pout as he looked one way and then the other. "I dunno…."

"Robin?" Chopper asked, seeing the woman with her hand on the wall of the tunnel.

Everyone turned to look at her and she turned her head to Usopp and asked, "Could you bring the light closer, Usopp?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, walking over next to her and holding up the lantern.

"What did you find, Robin?" Chopper asked, looking up to her face as her eyes focused on the wall.

"Hmm, I'm not sure…" she said, running her hand horizontally along the wall, tracing a line with her finger.

"That looks like…" Altros said, drawing everyone's gaze. He crouched down and put a hand on the ground before he continued speaking, "This was an underground river."

"How do you know that?" Usopp asked.

"The grooves here, thin lines all going in the same direction on the walls and ground, and I'd wager the ceiling too. You see the same thing in dried up rivers. They're left by the water." Altros said.

Chopper looked amazed, "Wow! Really?"

Luffy crouched down next to Altros and in a rare moment looked to be deep in thought. "So which way to the water go?"

Altros raised an eyebrow at the boy and then looked closer at the ground. "Hard to say."

"Well," Robin said, "Water does obey gravity, so…"

Altros looked up at her and grinned then looked at the tunnel they were in and up to the hole above them. He pointed down to one end, "It likely flowed this way, which if I remember right, does head out to the sea, so it'd make sense."

Luffy stood up happily, "Yosh! Let's go!" He then turned on his heel and started walking in the opposite direction.

The others followed from a slight distance and Usopp asked, "How does knowing that help you decide where to go?"

Luffy looked over his shoulder and smiled, "Because the treasure's always in the middle of the island!"

Robin laughed lightly and Altros chuckled. Usopp rolled his eyes and Chopper looked around confused. "I swear, he can be so simpleminded sometimes," Usopp said, rubbing his head.

"Yeah," Altros said, "But it's the fact that he makes sense being simpleminded that makes it odd."

"He certainly has his moments," Robin added.

* * *

**I wasn't too happy with this chapter as it's mostly just filler, and I'm not sure I like some of the dialouge, but the story must go on. I've got some more drama and adventure around the corner on this. Hope you've enjoyed it so far.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Eh, do you think it's mutual?" Nami asked, her chin resting on her arms as she leaned on the table.

Those who hadn't gone ashore were in the kitchen, waiting for Sanji to finish preparing their lunch.

"What's mutual?" Franky asked, glancing at the red head.

"You know," she said, "Robin and Altros. Do you think their feelings are mutual?"

"You mean do they like each other as more than simply being nakama?" Zoro asked, receiving a nod in reply.

"No way," Sanji chimed, "There's no way Robin could like that guy."

Nami narrowed her eyes at the chef, "Robin's the one we know has those feelings."

"What's the matter curly brow?" Zoro said with a smirk, "Afraid Altros beat you to the punch?"

Sanji turned around and gave a burning look to Zoro, "You wanna go, Moss Head?"

Nami groaned at the two idiots while Franky laughed along with Brook.

"Well," Brook said after he and Franky had stopped laughing, "He did seem to enjoy himself last night."

Franky leaned forward, "Yeah, that's true. They were dancing awfully close together."

Zoro grinned, thinking of another way to irk Sanji, "Heh, you know…Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper are pry so absorbed in looking around the island, Robin and Altros are pry off on their own…." He let his sentence go unfinished; satisfied that it got the desired reaction out of Sanji.

The chef was biting down on his cigarette and grinding his teeth while Nami glared at Zoro as the swordsman started talking again, "And it is a big island. If they got separated from the other three, they'd end up with a lot of time alone together."

Sanji's control snapped and he suddenly rushed out the door yelling, "I'M COMING ROBIN-CHWAN!"

The others heard a splash and Franky, Zoro, and Brook burst out laughing. Nami just shook her head at how easily Zoro had manipulated Sanji into doing something stupid. "I swear, that guy's got the most one track mind," she muttered.

* * *

Usopp groaned as he walked behind Luffy, "Ungh…how much farther are we gonna go anyway?"

"Until we get to the treasure," Luffy said, simply.

"Great," Usopp said, obviously lacking any enthusiasm.

"Do any of you hear something?" Altros asked.

Chopper perked up his ears and replied, "Yeah. It sounds like…water, but it's so loud."

"Perhaps a waterfall?" Robin offered.

"Underground?" Usopp asked.

Before anyone could reply to him, Luffy chimed in, "SO COOL! I wanna see it!" he started running ahead of the others wanting to see the underground waterfall.

As he reached the end of the tunnel, he wasn't disappointed. It opened up into a huge cavern, an underground lake sitting at the bottom of a small waterfall gushing out of a crevice in the rock wall. The others caught up and all stopped to look around the cavern. It was an amazing sight, the sheer size nearly unbelievable, and the crystal clear water allowed the light from Usopp's lantern to reach the bottom. However, they soon realized it was unnecessary. There was another source of light in the water itself that reflected off the far wall. Usopp brought his goggles down and zoomed in, screaming when he saw what was there.

"Ah! Diamonds! There's tons of tiny diamonds!"

"Wow! Really?" Chopper asked, his eyes wide in excitement.

Luffy jumped and pumped a fist into the air, "Woohoo! I told you there was treasure!"

"Amazing," Robin whispered, taking a few steps forward.

Altros stood back, blinking at the far wall. He couldn't believe it. How Luffy always ended up stumbling upon the most amazing things an island had to offer. Then his focus shifted back to the present situation and he realized something. "How are we supposed to get over there? There's no walkway of any sort."

"Ah! What? Dammit!" Usopp shouted as he looked around and realized that the area they were standing on wasn't connected to the other area by the opposite wall.

"Well, that's easy," Luffy said, drawing everyone's attention, "Well just make one."

The rubberman walked toward the edge of the water where a natural pillar of stone reached high up to the ceiling. He wrapped his arms around it several times, twisting up the pillar, and then grunted as he tried to pull it both from the ceiling and its base in the water. He clenched his teeth and strained as he pulled, the telltale sound of cracking indicating that it was working.

"Uh, Luffy, I don't know if that's such a good idea-" Usopp said before his words were drowned out by a particular large crack.

The others looked up as several small stones fell from above and then as the water rippled. It was working, and Luffy was pulling the stone away from the position it had been in for likely tens of thousands of years. Then there was a deafening snap and the whole pillar moved. As Luffy lifted, the top end of it began to fall out into the lake. Luffy let out a 'whoa' of surprise as the bottom suddenly came out of the water and flung him back. On the other side of the cavern, the pillar crashed onto the area of stone that was just barely covered by the water.

The others smiled and were about to step forward when there was a rumbling and then they heard the rush of water speed up, but this time, it seemed to be from the vortex that had formed in the water Luffy was next to, where the bottom of the pillar had been. It was draining out, fast, and the ground seemed to shake along with it.

Usopp's eyes went wide, "Ah! Luffy! What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Luffy said as he looked over to the others.

They all looked out to the lake when they heard a large splash, and then up. The ceiling was breaking up and falling into the water.

"I think we should all leave, right now!" Usopp yelled as he ran back to the tunnel, Chopper and Robin close behind.

Altros walked quickly over to Luffy and helped him up, "Dammit, Luffy, how do these things always happen around you?"

"I don't know," the Straw Hat said as he and Altros ran toward the tunnel. As they got there, there was another loud crack right above them. Altros and Luffy both looked up to see the large rock falling toward them, but Altros acted first.

"Move!" He shouted, pushing Luffy into the tunnel.

The rock crashed down and Altros jumped back, landing hard on his back and hitting his head. Everything went black and the loud rumbling sounds disappeared.

* * *

"Are you okay, Luffy?" Chopper asked as the young man pushed himself up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Luffy said, turning around. He saw Robin standing at what used to be the caverns' entrance, hand pressed against the giant rock that now blocked the way.

The others all stared at the rock as well, trying to process what had just happened. Usopp was the first to shake off the shock, or more accurately, have it knocked out of him when dirt from the tunnel fell on him. "You guys, we need to get out of here! The tunnel is collapsing too! You guys! HEY!"

"But, Altros is…" Luffy said, still staring.

"Yeah," Usopp said, pleadingly, "And we will be too if we don't get out of here! That cave was big, there's bound to be another entrance, we can find Altros later, but we can't do that if we're crushed!"

"But, Usopp," Chopper said turning to the sniper, "Won't he be crushed by all the rocks?"

It was then that Robin's head snapped around, but only Luffy seemed to notice. Usopp gritted his teeth, thinking fast, "We don't know that! There's always a chance, right? But we won't get that chance if we're trapped down here!"

He looked around as more dirt began to fall from the tunnel ceiling and Luffy spoke again, "He's right, we need to go. Robin…."

As the other three started turning, Robin looked back to the stone blocking the entrance to the cave, taking a hesitant step backwards. Her eyes were wide, and in the back of her mind she could hear her name being shouted. It wasn't until someone had grabbed her arm and started nearly dragging her along that she moved. The four Straw Hats ran back to where they'd entered the tunnel and climbed out, panting as they walked away from the ground that was sinking all along the cliff wall.

* * *

Sanji had slowed his run through the forest until he felt and heard the odd rumbling start. He paused for a moment before guessing that Luffy and the others pry had something to do with it, at which point he took off sprinting. The rumbling quieted but he kept running, relieved when he saw Usopp and Chopper sitting on the ground up ahead. The next person he saw was Luffy, standing with his arms at his sides, hands balled into fists, facing the cliff. Sanji skidded to a stop when he finally saw Robin, blinking in disbelief as he saw the woman sitting against a tree, knees pulled up to her chest and her head down. She was shaking and then he heard sobbing. His gaze drifted back to Usopp and Chopper, they looked despondent. He started walking toward them, thinking, _Where the hell is Altros?

* * *

_

On the deck of the Sunny the others were lounging around, enjoying the evening breeze and setting sun. But the calm quiet was interrupted by Zoro when he saw that the mini-Merry was nearly next to them.

"What the hell happened?"

The others all looked over to Zoro, but the mini-Merry had already disappeared into its dock. Zoro stood up and waited, facing the door that the others would be coming out of once they came up from below deck. Nami, Franky, and Brook all stood as well and walked over to where Zoro was. They all leaned forward as the door opened and Usopp and Chopper meandered out, followed by a very grim looking Luffy. Finally Sanji came out, carrying Robin, something that normally would have him grinning. Right then however he was expressionless. The others gawked before Nami echoed Zoro.

"What happened?"

* * *

**So there you are. I know, it's a random occurrence, but I gotta do something to push the story along. Please R&R.**


End file.
